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Saturday, June 10, 2017

Amazon Alexa, the Next Computing Platform

Anyone who has paid attention to my posts this year will have noticed two new topics.

1) Lyme Disease

I won't be the only one you’ll hear sounding this year's
Lyme alarm. The medical establishment continues to debate the proper diagnosis
and treatment of Lyme Disease. They all agree more cases are being reported but
no organization has been keeping track of the exact number. I may occasionally rant how long my “chronic
CNS Lyme” was missed over years of various hospitalizations. After weeks of daily intravenous antibiotics
my symptoms definitely improved but after six months and the loss of over 40 lbs.
my doctors are now ready to document my current condition.

The majority of folks who learn of my condition want to
share their favorite tick removal method and tell me how Lyme disease must make my joints sore and I must have been given antibiotics. The CNS prefix in my diagnosis
refers to "Central Nervous System" which thankfully only infect a
small number Lyme cases. For me it meant early retirement.

2) Amazon's Alexa

Alexa devices have become the leader in services
provided by its "Voice User Interface" design. I invested in my first Alexa device, the
Amazon Tap, in June 2016. I discovered the music library available to Amazon
Prime members was huge and the sound quality of the Tap is outstanding. It
didn’t take long before Amazon had a big sale day for prime users(July 12, 2016)
and I upgraded to an Amazon Echo with its seven microphone array. I was convinced that Alexa was a winner and
Amazon had put together a solid development team. The guarantee for a future was Amazon’s
efforts to attract a large number of 3rd party developers and create partnerships with both software and hardware developers.

In February 2017, I noticed I my "Tap" had a
firmware update. It wasn't a security update it wasn’t just a bug fix, it was a
brand new valuable feature. Just like my
Echo I could now set my Tap to be hands-free activated. I now keep my Tap in
the kitchen and still use it to play one of the many Playlists from Prime
Music. I depend on Alexa to let me set timers when cooking or to remind me to
check my laundry. Both ideal tasks for a voice user interface. For someone
disabled because of a nervous system disorder like mine, Alexa would be a must-have
accessibility device yet there is something for everyone.

Last month I was surprised by a new firmware update when
I noticed the color of the Echo's circle turned Green. So, naturally I asked
Alexa what the green light was for and she told me I had a message. I learned
that I could now use my Echo to call or send a voice messages to anyone with a
supported Alexa device including the Alexa app on the Apple iPhone or Android
phones. Not only does it provide free
voice messaging, I don't have to lift a finger to create a conversation. Just
like a timer, this is a feature that makes living with Lyme disease just a
little bit easier. Many times, if I don't have a chance to send a message
immediately, I'll lose track of what I had planned to share.

I’ve seen a number of computing platforms come and go.
Usually, the key to success is having what I call a “killer app.” The Alexa
platform and the voice interface model developed by Amazon has already provided
many killer apps* with plenty of imagination left for more. I’ve been asked to
compare Alexa to the Google Home Assistant and the new Apple HomePod without
starting a brand war. I consider other voice assistants as apps, where are
Alexa is a platform.